Alone
by xAngeloxPiccolax
Summary: Ashlyn's life hasn't been normal since before her mother died. Now, the girl who wasn't supposed to exist is coming to Ipswich with the powers she shouldn't have. Can she save her new family from her nightmare or will she bury someone else she loves?
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own _The Covenant _or any of its characters. Ashlyn, her family mentioned in this chapter, Corinne, Sarita, and Scot, who will be introduced later, the other Covenant parents, and any changes to the movie's storyline belong to me. Basically, everything you do not recognize is mine. This is a blanket disclaimer because I am terribly lazy and do not want to type one at the beginning of each chapter.

**IMPORTANT AN: **I redid it again...my computer that I had last year crashed back in October. We were hit by lightning. It was completely fried and my printer started smoking...not a good day. Anyway, after months of not having a computer, I'm back and ready to write again on my shiny new laptop.

**Alone**

**Prologue: Ashlyn**

It was a Thursday afternoon and a young girl, barely a month past seventeen, sat in the floor of a mirrored room in the dance studio where she worked. She was attempting to do cool-down stretches after she finished teaching the advanced Pointe class for the studio's summer workshop. Her focus, however, was obviously elsewhere. She was deep in thought over the nightmares that had plagued her in sleep for several weeks. More specifically, she was thinking of the one from the night before.

A knock at the door brought her out of her thoughts. The girl stood and opened it to allow the woman outside to enter. She was well dressed and looked rather serious. The girl just thought she was another mother that had come to yell at her about her daughter not getting enough personal attention during the classes that contain thirteen other girls. She sighed not looking forward to another tongue lashing from another upset mother.

"Miss Kendall?" the woman inquired. The girl nodded and she continued. "Miss, I'm Officer Keegan with the New York City Police Department. There has been an accident involving Mr. Jeremy Kendall and his family. I need you to come with me to Bellevue Hospital where they have taken your brother. I'm very sorry, but your sister-in-law and niece didn't make it."

The girl's breathing became short then, she was in shock. Three words, the words from her dream, kept repeating themselves in her head.

"I warned you."

It was a surreal feeling, being that alone with so many people around her, to feel angry, hurt, frightened, alone, all of those feelings all at once. The voices of people around her were unclear. It was as if her life was happening in slow motion. Only one conversation could be partially made out and that was the one the man in front of her in the bloodstained blue scrubs was trying very hard to have with her. She watched as his lips moved before her and tried her hardest to understand the words.

"…very sorry, Miss Kendall…too much blood was lost…couldn't save him…your brother is gone." Those last four words brought her crashing back to reality. "Is there someone you would like us to call for you?" The girl shook her head, still in shock.

"It was a terribly accident. I am truly sorry for your loss," the doctor said quietly.

'If only it had just been an accident,' she mused. 'It might hurt less then. Maybe if it hadn't been entirely my fault, I would feel less broken now.'

She sat there for a few moments longer, the doctor leaving, no doubt, to help save other patients, even if he could not do that for her family. It was a bitter thought, but she needed someone other than herself to blame, despite the fact that, in her mind, it was almost entirely her fault. Somehow, from halfway across Manhattan Island, while teaching a new Pointe routine at a summer workshop, she managed to cause the death of the last members of the only family she had ever known. Grief makes people think crazy things.

Her emotions were taking their toll and she knew it. Her hands were shaking and tears shone brightly in her chocolate brown eyes, but she blinked them back. She was going to use if she did not get out of there soon. She walked ever faster out of the hospital and was nearly at a full sprint when she reached her Ford Escape in the parking lot of Bellevue Hospital. She drove back to the Upper East Side apartment she formerly shared with her late brother and sister-in-law, as well as their young daughter. All of them were now gone. It was unreal.

'Well Ash, what now?' she asked herself, finally giving in to her exhaustion and falling into a fitful sleep.

She awoke not an hour later in a cold sweat. Her usually warm chocolate eyes were black as night. She closed her eyes for a moment and reopened them to reveal her normal color. Those black eyes were the indication of her curse, the reason her brother was dead, the reason she never truly belonged with her 'family.' She was never supposed to have those powers. However, it's hard to say what she should or should not have when she was never supposed to exist to begin with.

* * *

Ashlyn Rose Kendall, though that is the name she had answered to her entire life, was not a Kendall at all. She was not like her perfect older brother, or her wonderful mother. The wonderful woman she referred to as mother in fact adopted Ashlyn at birth. Laura Kendall, her biological aunt, took her in and cared for her as well as her own child, Jeremy, until Ashlyn was thirteen years old. It was then that she found out the truth about who she was. It was two weeks before her thirteenth birthday and her mother gave her a strange letter. It was a letter from her father, her biological father, and she stared incredulously at the woman sitting in front of her before she began to read. She read the letter and as she did, they both cried. Laura cried from guilt and grief, and Ashlyn from a combination of betrayal, fear, sadness, and a myriad of other emotions.

The letter told her she was adopted. The guilty look on Laura's face was the only confirmation she needed to see that it was true. It told her of ancient powers her family had and the terrible danger they brought her. It explained the reasons behind her adoption and that it was 'for her own good.' The letter said she was safer with her aunt and cousin in New York. At the time, she thought it was a joke.

Two weeks later, that 'joke' became reality for the young girl. It happened while her best friend, Corinne Daniels, and her brother Scot were staying with the Kendall's for a few days while their parents were away. It was June 24, 2001. She would be thirteen the following morning and for some reason, Ashlyn couldn't sleep. So, like any other child would do, she dragged her friends out of bed at nearly midnight and out onto the balcony of her apartment. They sat and talked for a little while, but Corinne was really jumpy and even Scot, who was usually calm, looked ill at ease. It was almost a quarter past two when Corinne looked up at the sky and then jerked her head toward Ashlyn.

"You're a witch!" she whispered excitedly.

Ashlyn looked confused. The letter had said she wasn't a witch. She came from witches but she wasn't supposed to have power. The power was dangerous to her and to her bloodline. She couldn't be.

It was 2:16, exactly thirteen years from the time of her birth, and a storm seemed to come from nowhere. Lightning struck the petite girl in her chest and lifted her into the air. Scot and Corinne jumped to their feet prepared to help the poor child. Then, as quickly as it came, it was gone. Ashlyn dropped from the sky and into Scot's awaiting arms. She looked like she was asleep. Then she opened her eyes and they were completely black.

"Told ya!" Corinne said smugly. The letter had lied.

They didn't go back to sleep right away, but they did go back inside. Ashlyn was terrified and confused. It took nearly half an hour to get her to pay attention enough for her friends to explain what had just happened to her. Well, mostly Scot explained. Corinne bounced excitedly up and down; glad to finally have a friend she could be completely honest with. They too had powers, Scot explained quietly, so as not to wake anyone else. Corinne's powers were primarily mental. She could not only sense the powers of others, but she was empathic and telepathic as well. Scot's were mostly physical. He had heightened senses and enhanced strength. He could also teleport though it was limited to about a twenty-mile radius, less if he tried to take anyone with him. Ashlyn listened as intently as possible, but it was hard. Her whole world was turning upside down. Two weeks before, she thought magic was just the stuff that made up fairly tales. Now, she could feel it coursing through her veins, tingling just beneath the surface of her skin. Her friends, who she believed to be perfectly normal kids, were witches. It was all too much to handle long before Corinne excitedly began to speak of spells and so much that Ashlyn just couldn't comprehend. Scot finally put a stop to his sister's rambling when he noticed their friend's eyes, wide with confusion and fear. Promising to explain more another time, he told both girls to go to sleep. He didn't expect both of them to take him so literally, or to use him as a pillow, but that's how Laura found them later that morning. When she woke up and saw the three spread out on the couch, she nudged Ashlyn awake.

"Is everything okay?"

For the first time since she was two and her mother had asked her who took the cookies for the bake sale and she innocently blamed Jeremy, Ashlyn lied to her mother. She nodded her head. If the powers were dangerous, then the very innocent Kendall's didn't need to know about it.

She had her party that afternoon. It was mostly kids from school. Normally her "other parents" would come. They were old friends of her mothers that insisted on her calling them "Mama Evie," "Mama Rose," "Mama Bea," and "Mama Meri." Rosalind, Beatrice, and Meredith also had husbands who she affectionately called Daddy Glenn, Wayne, and Joey respectively. They all had boys about her age too. This year however, they were nowhere to be seen. And, they wouldn't be back either.

She spent most of her time after that at the Daniels' with Cori and Scot. The power was fascinating to her. Hers was so different from her friends. She simply had to think of something and it happened. It made her feel as if she could do anything. Ashlyn soon found, however, that the power also made her weak if she used too much or too often. She would be in a sleep-like state for anywhere from a few seconds to a few days depending on how much she pushed herself past her limits. She, however, was determined and learned to control the powers at a very fast rate, and with them, her emotions as well. She became stronger, mentally and physically, and was able to use more power with less energy.

* * *

Six months later, the cancer they thought was gone, took the life of Laura Kendall. Ashlyn, feeling guilty for the mistrust she had felt toward her mother in her final healthy weeks, went to live with her adoptive brother Jeremy, then twenty, in another nearby neighborhood of New York City where he lived with his wife and child. Jeremy married his high school sweetheart, Anna Johnson, and they had a beautiful daughter, Olivia nearly a year later. They were all happy together for nearly three whole years.

That was when **he **came. Ashlyn had no idea who he was, but he would show up in her dreams almost every night demanding that she turn over her power. He would threaten those she loved and, had she believed what he was capable of, had she believed he was even real, they might have lived. Since he never actually presented himself, Corinne couldn't get any kind of reading on his powers. Scot wasn't even convinced he was real. Several nights before, he was there in her nightmares again. All he said was "I warned you" and then he disappeared, but it was all she needed to know that he was the one who had caused her this pain. She had no doubts that he was real. He was the one who took almost everything she had left in the world. Ashlyn wanted to make him pay, but she knew she needed help, and she knew of no other place to turn. She found that old letter and with the return address fading in the top left corner. She packed her bags and canceled the next months rent check. She called the number in the letter and told the woman on the other line who she was. She asked if she could come to stay with them until the semester started. She knew she sounded crazy, but she was desperate. The woman sounded a little shocked, but told her she was welcome to stay as long as she liked.

One week later, just four days after the funeral where she had buried the last of the only real family she knew, she found herself driving her black Ford Escape from New York City to Ipswich, Massachusetts. She called and left a message on Scot's cell phone knowing he wouldn't answer. By the time he got it, she would be well out of state and it would be too late to get her to turn back. She drove rapidly to escape her past, all of her belongings in the back of her black SUV. Ashlyn was going to a town she had never been to before and becoming a part of the family that had abandoned her. She was to go to some prestigious New England Prep School and become someone she didn't even know. She was no longer Ashlyn Rose Kendall. She was Ashlyn Rose Danvers.

She was so very excited…


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Well, here is the first chapter. This chapter has an actual description of Ashlyn, but for anyone who needs a better visual I will have a picture of her as I envisioned her on my profile very soon. This chapter is still kinda short, but it is longer like I promised. Now, on with the story.

**Alone**

**Chapter One: Broken**

Evelyn Danvers was ecstatic. She was crying she was so happy. Her daughter was coming home. It had hurt more than Evelyn had ever thought imaginable, sending her daughter away. As much as she had wanted to keep Ashlyn in Ipswich, it was not safe for her. The generation of Sons before her husband, his father and the other three families, were completely set in the old ways. There was a reason only the eldest male developed The Power. Other children were never given that chance, never allowed to live long enough to dispute that theory. No other child was ever able to split the family _line_. That's all it was. There was no branching on each of the family trees. Just a line. She refused to let her daughter meet that same fate. She would not allow her daughter to die at the hands of her bigoted father-in-law and his insane _Laws._

Caleb was barely five months old when Evelyn discovered her pregnancy. She was so excited. She told her husband just days later, on Valentine's Day. William James Danvers III was not a man of great emotion, so the look of fear in his eyes and the sense of urgency in his voice frightened her. He explained to her what would happen if they kept the baby with them in Ipswich. She cried for hours knowing she would not endanger the life of her unborn child. It was hard for the young woman to comprehend the idea of her father-in-law, who was only in his early fifties, but looked to be closer to ninety, was capable of harming an innocent child. There was no possible way that he and the other members of the Covenant of Silence could kill a baby only to make sure The Power stayed under their control. It was unfathomable.

William, of course, knew better. He had watched as his own grandfather and the other Elders of his time murdered his friend's baby sister when she was barely two months old. The next day his father sat him down to tell him "it's the way it has to be." In that moment, he lost all respect he'd ever had for his father. There was no way he would allow the same thing to happen to his child. He was determined to make sure he or she had a chance. It was from that determination that _The Plan_ materialized. Less than a month after the discovery of Evelyn's unexpected pregnancy, everything was set into motion. It was elaborate, but necessary. Evelyn became very excited over her pregnancy. That wasn't kept a secret. It would have been too difficult once she began to show anyway. She also was very excited because her sister, Laura was also expecting just a couple months before her own due date. On June 24, 1989, Laura went into labor. Evelyn, at only twenty-six and a half weeks, was determined to be there. So, she, Will, and the then nine-month-old Caleb boarded a plane for New York. There they went to Evelyn's older sister's house to greet a very not pregnant Laura with a six-year-old boy rather than an infant girl. They explained to Laura why they were there and she agreed to take the child in.

Using a great deal of power, William induced Evelyn's labor and they got her to the hospital very quickly. The premature baby girl only survived due to her father's using. He restarted her heart twice from the emergency room. While Evelyn was resting, he went into the city and got two more birth certificates and a death certificate drawn up. It's amazing what one can do with enough money in a big city. Ashlyn Rose Danvers was born to Evelyn and James Danvers at 2:16 AM on June 25, 1989. According to the papers William had gotten in town, however, "Rosalyn Danvers" was born at 2:16 AM to Evelyn and James Danvers. "Rosalyn" was a stillborn. Another set of papers said that Ashlyn Rose Kendall was born at 12:06 AM to Laura Kendall. With his daughter presumed dead, no harm could come to her. Once the last of his father's generation was gone, they could bring her home. That was the plan anyway.

For the next twelve years after Ashlyn was born, all of the sons of William's generation as well as their wives and children came to visit the little girl often. William himself only got to come to her first birthday, as he was aging too quickly after that. The Elders were none the wiser, but William was aging quickly, which made the urge to use that much greater. They had pulled off the plan, but that relief was not enough for a young mother. In one fell swoop, Evelyn had lost her baby and her husband. It was true that neither of them were actually gone. Ashlyn was alive and safe, but she would never know her as a 'mother.' She would forever just be 'Mama Evie,' her mother's friend and Caleb's mom. William was not dead yet, but his loss was inevitable. It wasn't until after Caleb got his powers that she started drinking. She hated those powers. She just knew they would take Caleb away from her too.

Evelyn, despite her grief, loved coming to visit her daughter for every holiday, birthday, dance recital, school play, or just the odd weekend here and there. Ashlyn was growing up to be a beautiful young woman, with her mother's dark hair and eyes. She was dancing all the time. She practically devoted her young life to it. She had a family who loved her and she was happy. The Covenant families didn't make it to her thirteenth birthday. The boys had just received their share of the power and it was too soon to risk revealing it to the young girl. They weren't exactly _inconspicuous_ about it. She called constantly over the next several months, just to make sure Ashlyn was safe. Laura assured her there were no signs that Ashlyn had received any of the power so it was assumed it couldn't pass to the females in the family. After that, her drinking became everything. It made her forget all that she was losing. She was never in much of a state after that to go anywhere and none of the other mothers felt right leaving her behind to go see Ashlyn, so that was the end of their visits. When Laura died, there was no apparent danger for her there in New York with Jeremy and his family so she once again stayed. Why is it that whenever someone thinks the danger is gone, it comes back to bite them in the ass?

* * *

It was a strange feeling for Ashlyn, driving through a city without Jeremy or Anna in the car criticizing her driving and telling her to slow down. She had always been a bit of a lead foot. Olivia wasn't even in the backseat begging to go to McDonalds. It was an unusually quiet ride. She'd had to plug in her iPod and blast some random tune, just to block out the silence. She still couldn't believe they were gone. She blinked back tears at the thought of her family in pain. All she could do now was hope that whatever was after her would only come after _her_ now. She had no one else. The few friends she had left were more than two-hundred miles away. She had practically severed all ties with her previous life. Only Scot and Cori wanted to stay in touch with her and insisted on it. Corinne was already threatening to drive down there if she didn't receive a phone call at least once every twenty-four hours. Frighteningly enough, she would be the one to do it, and drag her brother along for the ride.

Ashlyn had a hint of a smile gracing her features at the thought of her best friends. It quickly fell away, however, as she reached the entrance of Danvers Manor. She had a terrible sense of unease and apprehension as she got out of her car and made her way to the front door. Her nervousness nearly doubled as she rang the bell, but everything melted away as she saw who answered. It couldn't be. It was Mama Evie. She had been there all through her childhood, and just as things got bad, she abandoned her. This was Laura's own sister. She was Jeremy's aunt. She knew about the powers. Not that Ashlyn had them, but she knew they existed. All these thoughts flooded her mind all at once. She felt angry, betrayed even, by this woman she'd known all her life. This woman could have given her something, anything, to make her suspect that things like her nightmares could possibly real and then Jeremy, Anna, and little Olivia might have been spared. _Something _could have been done. That hurt worse than anything else did, the fact that their deaths were avoidable made it almost intolerable.

"You…"

The pain and anger was visible in her eyes. Evelyn tried to reach for her as she turned, but was too late. Ashlyn was running back toward her car and, before she knew it, she was back down the road, passing mile after mile of trees and overgrown fields. She soon pulled up at an old, practically dilapidated barn. She got out and slammed the door shut making the car window shatter. It was unreal to think that a girl of her stature, only five-foot-one, and a mere ninety-eight pounds could use that much force. She growled and let her eyes bleed black and raised a hand to mend the broken car window. She practically crumpled after that, landing in a crouched position on the ground by her car.

Evelyn sat defeated in her sitting room by the front door. She hadn't expected a good reaction from Ashlyn, but she really hadn't expected her to leave. She had sent her son and his friends to go find her, but as they only knew the car, and that she had a New York license plate, it could be a while. She had to find a way to get Ashlyn to talk to her, or at least sit still long enough to listen. Unfortunately, for either of those things to happen, she would need some sort of miracle.

Miracle, thy name is Tyler Simms.

* * *

Tyler had been driving around for nearly twenty minutes looking for Caleb's missing little sister. They really needed to find her. She was an emotionally unstable teenage girl in a strange place with nowhere to go. He was in the old colonial part of town when he found her. She was leaning over the hood of her car with her head in her hands. Her shoulders were shaking, so he could tell she was crying.

"Hey," he whispered hoping not to frighten the petite girl. She turned sharply and took a defensive stance, glaring sharply with her puffy, red-rimmed chocolate eyes. The shorter layers of her shoulder length onyx colored hair moved wildly with the force of her turn before laying back down flat.

"Go away!" she warned

He stepped closer, slowly, deliberately. She raised an eyebrow, daring him to get closer.

"I said leave, Tyler! I'm not going back there." Her tone left little room for argument.

He froze. "So you do remember us."

She scoffed. "Yeah, I remember all of you, including my so called mother, abandoning me right before my mom died."

"She didn't know. You can't honestly blame her for bad timing."

"It was cancer, Ty. Everyone knew what was happening for months. She chose to leave, but the problem isn't that she left. It's that she chose not to come back. I can't blame her for her timing, but I can sure as hell blame her for leaving to begin with. That doesn't sound like a very _motherly_ thing to do."

"She only wants to help you."

"Yeah? Well, why didn't she help then? This didn't have to happen. They didn't have to die! If she had brought me here then, maybe Jeremy and Anna and Livvy would still be alive!"

"You don't know that. You weren't in the car with them. It had nothing to do with you." She turned away. She knew different. "As for Mrs. Danvers, just let her explain. If you knew the whole story, you probably wouldn't hate her so much."

Ashlyn turned back to her childhood friend and glared sharply. "Why? Because she did it for my own good? Was it supposed to _protect_ me? Huh? Well, guess what, it didn't work. I'm not sure what could have happened to me here that would have left me more fucked up than I am now! One little thing can change everything. Olivia was only three and a half! She was still a baby and now she's gone. They all are! How do you know it isn't my fault?"

Tyler was quiet for a moment. "Because I remember the Ashlyn from when we were kids. You can't hurt people. You never could. You can't blame yourself for this. Jeremy was a cool dude. He looked after all of us when we were there. He wouldn't want you driving yourself crazy like this. You know that. He loved you, a lot. He'd be pissed if he saw you like this. And there is something that would have fucked you up more."

She looked up and Tyler took a final step toward her and put a hand on her shoulder. "You could be dead."

She didn't speak. She jerked away and opened the car door. Once inside, she turned to him again.

"I'll go back just not right now. I'm not ready to talk. You can tell them that. Maybe soon, just not yet." While she spoke, she scribbled something onto a slip of paper. With that, she drove off in the opposite direction of Danvers Manor, toward town. As she drove away, Tyler saw a slip of paper floating down to the ground in front of him. It was a receipt for gas from earlier that day. On the back was a note.

_I'll be there tonight so call off the dogs. I'm not gonna get hurt._

Tyler shook his head and sent a text to the guys telling them to head back to the house and that Ashlyn would be fine. On his drive back to the house, Tyler thought about the girl he'd known since childhood and the woman who had taken him down just minutes before. She was actually quite beautiful now that she wasn't trying to kill him or anything. She was still the tiny, midnight-haired girl he remembered from childhood. She was barely five feet tall. She had creamy ivory skin and a toned body. Silver piercings adorned her nose, upper lip, and ears. She'd filled out considerably over the years; her full chest was a testament to that. As much as Caleb would kill him if he ever found out Tyler did it, he couldn't help but appreciate the view. He was male after all. Reid would have been proud, at least.

Something scared him, though. Her dark chocolate eyes held something that was contradictory to the image he had of his childhood friend. They were hardened. They hid her emotions almost entirely. The girl he remembered wore her heart on her sleeve and didn't care what anyone else saw or thought. When he looked harder, he saw something else. Something she didn't want him to see. She was hiding something. That something had her terrified.

He got to the house right after Pogue. Caleb and Reid got there a few minutes later.

"How's the demon spawn?" Reid asked sarcastically. Caleb glared and Pogue hit him.

Tyler knew better. Reid was worried. He just had too much pride to admit it.

"She'll be fine. She went in to town. She isn't ready to talk yet. She just lost the people she loved most for the second time in four years. She's pissed and confused, but she's dealing. She'll be back tonight. Just give her some time."

The others nodded, though Caleb didn't look happy about it.

* * *

Ashlyn was a little lost. She'd been driving around Ipswich for the past few hours and still couldn't find a dance studio. It was getting dark when she finally saw one. It was small, but that didn't matter to her. Dancing was the only thing that still made sense to her. She parked and went up to knock on the door. A thinly framed woman with graying hair and glasses answered.

"I'm sorry, honey, but we don't do public classes." The woman looked at her with pity.

"I'm not here to sign up for classes. I just need to blow off a little steam. Do you mind if I use one of you're rooms until you get ready to lock up? I can pay." There was a desperate tone to her voice that made the woman nod and open the door wider. Ashlyn thanked her and followed her to a room down the tiny hallway.

"Just don't leave a mess," the woman said, walking back to her office.

Ashlyn removed her shoes and exchanged them for a pair of knee high tights and her Pointe shoes. As she wrapped the ribbons around her ankles and put the earpieces from her headphones in her ears, she began to relax for the first time in more than a week. She stretched and warmed up for a few minutes, before turning on the music. It was then that she really lost herself. She danced beautifully all across the hardwood floor. She spun and leaped gracefully through the air. To anyone looking on, she was the picture of serene perfection. It was a contradiction to the turmoil that existed just beneath the surface.

The woman came back nearly an hour later, and Ashlyn was still dancing. This song must have been faster, as she moved almost fiercely, but with the same grace as before. Her movements were so controlled and she looked so sure. The woman was mesmerized. Finally, the song must have ended, because Ashlyn stopped. She turned and saw the woman staring and blushed. She mumbled an apology and began to gather her things. She changed her shoes back and placed the others in her bag.

"Don't apologize, honey. That was beautiful. Do you have choreography made up for every one of those songs?"

"Some of them. Most of it I just made up as I went, though."

"Well, it was wonderful. I'm Jeannie. I own this studio. Have you ever thought about competing?"

"Not really. I did some summer programs at Tisch before I moved here, but I really just do it for fun."

Jeannie looked disappointed. "Well if you change your mind, my team would love to have you. Still, maybe seeing a dancer with a fire like yours would inspire some of my other girls. Come by any time you like. Maybe I can just show you off some and see if I can't get them to work half as hard."

Ashlyn laughed slightly. She was relieved at least to have somewhere to escape to when she needed it. Just then, her phone rang. It was home. She rolled her eyes and damned to hell the person who invented caller ID. She may need that escape quite a bit.

She thanked Jeannie again and left, climbing back into her SUV. Her phone rang again.

"What?"

"Where are you?" Caleb barked.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I was in town."

"Doing what?"

"Again, not your business. Don't worry, oh-great-and-powerful big brother. I'll be there soon."

"Good, hurry up."

Ashlyn scoffed and hung up. "Asshole," she muttered.

Not even fifteen minutes later, she pulled up at the Danvers' Manor once again. She got to the door where Caleb was waiting for her.

"About time," Caleb mumbled in frustration.

She brushed past him and into the house. Pogue scooped her up into a big bear hug and wouldn't let go.

"I missed you, Little Bit," he whispered into her hair. The nickname was familiar. Something only he was allowed to call her. It made her feel a little better, more normal anyway.

"Missed you, too, Pogo."

He put her down and she turned to Tyler.

"Didn't you tell him I was fine and would be home later?" she growled a little. Reid snickered.

"Yeah, but since when does he listen?"

"Okay, I'll give you that. And, what are you laughing at, Blondie? I can still kick your ass, just like when we were kids."

"Oh really? You think so?" He was beside her in a few steps. Both of her wrists held above her head by one of his hands. He had her back to a wall.

In one quick movement, she kicked him back. She then swept under his feet and knocked him onto the couch.

"Yeah, I think so." She smirked.

"Enough!" Caleb shouted. "Sit down. We need to talk." Ashlyn leaned defiantly against the wall by the stairs.

"I'm not talking yet. So I guess you're SOL." With that, she grabbed her duffel bag from the floor and walked upstairs to her new room.

'It's gonna be a long summer...' she thought as she lay down on the bed.


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Well, here is Chapter 2 and, as promised, it's a lot longer. I hope you like it. A cookie to anyone who can figure out Corinne's new nickname for Reid.

**Alone**

**Chapter Two: Familiar Faces**

Only a couple days had passed since Ashlyn had arrived at the Danvers' Manor. She was still a bit uneasy, but she and Evelyn had agreed that she would only _have_ to stay until the dorms were open again which was another two weeks away. After that, she was free to come and go as she pleased. Ashlyn had been reluctant at first, but was accepting of these terms.

She still wasn't sure about her current relationship with her childhood friends. She hadn't seen them in over five years. They really hadn't changed that much. Of course, they had filled out rather dramatically and grown much taller, but it was still easy to see the features they'd had when they were kids. She, however, looked almost nothing like she had. The appreciative stares she was receiving from three of the four boys didn't really surprise Ashlyn, only disappointed her. She'd expected it from Reid. He'd always been a flirt. Tyler was still just that shy little kid to her. He was Baby Boy. In her mind, Baby Boy didn't give appreciative glances. Pogue was a bigger disappointment. He was supposed to be her comfort zone. He'd been the only one to make her feel normal since the accident. He wasn't supposed to look at her that way. That made him too much like every other self-absorbed, chauvinistic, pig she'd known back home. Technically, it was still a form of familiarity.

Ashlyn couldn't help but think about her _family_, especially Caleb. They looked very similar, really. They shared the same eyes, skin tone, hair, and her facial structure almost mimicked that of Evelyn. There was no denying they were related. She probably would have questioned it more if she'd been a bit older. No one looks that much like their aunt and cousin and so little like their own mother and brother. She never could have figured it out then, though. She was just a happy little kid. It did hurt though. All she could think of was the sickening fact that she had missed what was right in front of her.

Ashlyn sat in her new bedroom, collapsed on the large bed. The past couple weeks had exhausted the poor girl. Ashlyn considered unpacking her things, both manually and magically, but settled for grabbing some old pale yellow pajama bottoms with records on them and a black tank top and changing. Once she got back to her new bed, Ashlyn pulled out her cell phone and dialed.

The phone rang all of three times before someone picked up.

"Scotty's House of Love. We're currently closed, but if you would like to set up an appointment—"

"Scot, it's Ashlyn. Get your head out of your ass and hand the phone to Cori."

"Lynnie! I miss you! When are Cor and I allowed to come visit you anyway? I'm only getting half my daily dose of crazy little sister. This really can't be good for my health. Are you trying to kill me or something?"

Ashlyn could actually hear the pout in the older boy's voice.

"Of course not. I've only been gone a few days. You can't miss me that much. I need to talk to Corinne though, so I love you, now hand her the phone."

"Fine…" Scot, of course, didn't bother to take the phone from his mouth and Ashlyn received a nearly deafening yell.

"Rin, get your skinny ass in here and get your phone! Lynnie wants you."

There was a scramble, but in no time at all, the melodic and cheerful voice of her best friend filled Ashlyn's ears, making her smile brightly.

"Ash? Oh my god, how is it? What happened? Is it terrible? Do I need to drive over there and stay with you for a while? Tell me!"

Ashlyn laughed openly at her friend's frantic questioning. Ashlyn told her everything and Corinne listened intently like a good best friend. She perked up at the mention of Caleb and his friends.

"Are they hot? What about that brother of yours, is he one night stand material?"

"Corinne!" Ashlyn half-heartedly admonished her friend for her bluntness.

"First, the fact that he is my blood relative makes that illegal and creepy."

"For you maybe, but you forget. I am _not _your blood relative."

Ashlyn chose to ignore that comment and continued.

"Second, I told you I can't afford to like anyone. Real relationships are not allowed. This is only temporary, remember?"

"That doesn't mean you can't look."

Ashlyn rolled her eyes at Corinne's mumbling.

"And third, yes they're drop dead gorgeous. Even Caleb, which is awkward to say. Anyway, I'm not completely terrible. I was gonna tell you, I just wanted to make you squirm first."

Corinne laughed at her and complained about the distance between them. It was the first time in nearly fifteen years they were going to be separated for more than a few days. It was killing them both.

"I know, Cori. I'm sorry. You could always drag Scotty down in two weeks to help me move into the dorms. Right now, I need to sleep though."

"Of course, Sweetie. You know we'll be there. Go to sleep and call us tomorrow. We love you." Scot could be heard agreeing in the background.

"Alright. I love you both and I'll see you in two weeks. Night."

"Night, Ash."

Ashlyn smiled as she hung up the phone. That familiarity was what she had needed and she was really looking forward to seeing them. They knew the dangers and had their own defenses so all would be okay…hopefully. With that thought, Ashlyn fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

* * *

Two weeks passed quickly and it was moving day. Evelyn had made sure to get Ashlyn a single. Ashlyn wasn't much for sharing. She had a temper. Reid had the bruises to prove it. She'd been nice to Tyler since the first day when she nearly broke his cheekbone. A roommate would have to risk being subjected to the same thing. She was fragile already and her breaking point couldn't be too far off.

Ashlyn wasn't in the _greatest_ of moods that morning. Corinne had called the night before to inform her that she and Scot couldn't visit, but promised she would see them soon. All of the boys had noticed her mood and, with the exceptions of an oblivious Pogue and a cautious Tyler, were steering completely clear of the dark-haired girl.

Pogue, she found out, was in a very serious relationship so he was back to being her Pogo. The staring stopped pretty quickly. Reid was the only one who wouldn't let up. Pogue tried to keep him in line though. He was more of a big brother than Caleb was capable of being at the moment. He was more laid back, more understanding, and just all around more like Jeremy. Caleb didn't understand her and for that reason, couldn't let her be.

Tyler and Ashlyn had actually become rather close. He was a great listener. He also could tell when she just needed him to talk and distract her from the thoughts plaguing her. They had told each other their entire life stories. Ashlyn felt bad for leaving out that she had powers and had been the cause of her family's death. However, she did tell him about the nightmares. He was worried. She knew about _their_ powers so she knew he thought it was a problem of the magical sort. She just didn't tell him how right he was.

Even between her own Escape and Tyler's Hummer, it was still obviously going to take two trips to move all of Ashlyn's stuff. She had done some shopping in town on her days at the dance studio. She'd booked two hours of studio time three nights a week. Jeannie was happy to have her.

On the first trip, they cleared out Tyler's car quickly. She and each of the boys carried a large box up to her room so his car was now empty. Reid of course was complaining as they reached the door about having to be her 'man-slave' and not receiving payment for all of his 'hard work.' A short redheaded girl spoke from inside the room.

"Well Blondie, if you're really nice Ash and I could maybe make it worth your while." The girl's voice was velvety and sultry. It was almost as if she was singing every word.

"Jesus, Rin, there's no reason to offer sex to every guy you see to begin with, but to bring innocent little Lynnie into it, that's just wrong." It was then that the group noticed the boy, about the same age as the Sons, standing by the door.

Ashlyn seemed to be in a daze for a moment, until the boy spoke. She practically tossed her box to him and flung herself at the girl.

"Cori! Scotty! I didn't think you were coming. What are you guys doing here?" Corinne couldn't really speak, as Ashlyn was currently squeezing her to death so Scot answered instead.

"No my dear, my baby sister told you that we weren't going to _visit_."

Ashlyn loosened her grip in her friend, but remained perched in her lap while she looked at Scot confused. That was until she noticed the _second_ bed in her _single_ room.

"How's it hanging, roomie?" Corinne gave Ashlyn a huge grin and Ashlyn just looked shocked. Scot changing schools she could believe, but Cori loved their old prep school. It didn't surprise her that they could get in. The Headmaster at York absolutely _adored_ Corinne and her parents. He would be sad to lose them, but happy to write the recommendation letters. Ashlyn just couldn't believe Cori would leave just to be closer to her. She was happier than she'd been in weeks.

"My room is just down the hall." Scot told her. "And I actually _did _get a single."

Ashlyn laughed at that and got up to hug him too, but stopped when she heard the throat clearing at the door. She had completely forgotten about the four very confused boys standing in her doorway.

"Oops sorry, you can put those down anywhere I guess. Guys, this is my best friend ever, Corinne Daniels and her moronic older brother, Scot. Cori, Scot, this is Caleb Danvers, Pogue Parry, Tyler Simms, and Reid Garwin, the one Cori is offering up our services to." Ashlyn rolled her eyes at her friend.

"An offer I am totally willing to take her up on!" Reid announced with a wolfish grin in the girls' direction.

Caleb, Tyler, Pogue, and Scot all glared at the blond, and Scot took a protective step toward his little sister and her best friend. Corinne giggled lightly and whispered something to Ashlyn who looked a bit appalled for a moment before nodding slightly. Scot noticed the mischievous grin on his sister's face and turned to her instead.

"Whatever it is that you are planning, my _precious _baby sister, don't." His eyes and his tone both darkened on that last word and Corinne pouted and tried to look offended by her brother's accusations.

The two siblings glared at each other for a few more minutes and Ashlyn made her way back to Caleb and his friends. Tyler leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Are they _always _like this?"

"Oh no, this is them showing restraint. I'm actually kinda proud of them."

Tyler stole another frightened glance at the new girl and her brother.

"Okay Tackle Box, where is all your stuff? We need to get you moved in so I can go get food." Scot said to Ashlyn once he was done glaring at his sister.

"Scotty, your world revolves around your stomach doesn't it?" Ashlyn groaned, choosing to ignore the nickname he had given her.

"Try a little lower, Ash. He is male after all." Corinne added in a monotone and Ashlyn smirked at the glare he shot them when she nodded in agreement.

He towered over the two girls by more than a foot making him right at Caleb's height if not a little taller. He, like Cori, had a red tint to his hair, but it wasn't quite as vibrant. It was also spiked out about and inch in every direction with a longer mohawk that had dark green tips. He was thin but had very toned muscles. His emerald green eyes held a certain sparkle that prevented him from ever looking truly threatening to either Corinne or Ashlyn. Overall, he was very cute, until he spoke that is.

Ashlyn smirked at the boy who she thought of as an older brother and spoke in a baby voice as she played with the small patch of hair on his chin.

"Aww…you're so cute when you try to be scary!" Scot glared at the shorter girl. "Oh, and you know the green has to go before school starts. They're barely going to allow my piercings, but the green mohawk isn't gonna fly. Sorry, babe."

"Does that mean I get to cut his hair again?" Corinne asked, suddenly hyper and excited.

"NO!" Scot yelled at the same time Ashlyn calmly nodded in the affirmative.

"Chill out, big brother. If I mess it up, we could always shave your head!" Corinne said in a slightly peppy tone.

Scot gave Ashlyn a look that told her to do something or face the consequences and she just gave him a reassuring smile and said she would be there to help. He relaxed slightly, but his disgruntled mood remained.

The seven teens quickly got all of Ashlyn's, and later Corinne's and Scot's, things up to their rooms and the Sons all said their farewells before going home. Reid, Tyler, and Pogue were moving their things back to the dorms later that week and still had to finish packing. Tyler hugged Ashlyn goodbye and told her to call him if she needed anything, all while glancing suspiciously at Scot who was sitting on her bed. Ashlyn rolled her eyes and assured him she was fine and even proceeded to kick Scot out, as well saying something about a girls' night. She was then left alone with her crazy redheaded friend.

"Wow…when you said they were hot you _really_ meant it. The blond would be a good one-nighter but I doubt I could tolerate him after that. That brother of yours is gorgeous, but too serious for me. You said the long haired one was taken, right?" Ashlyn nodded only halfway attentive, "Too bad…but it's just as well. I liked the blue-eyed one better anyway. He just seems so…corruptible," Corinne giggled to herself at the thought of 'corrupting' Tyler as her words finally caught up with Ashlyn.

"Oh, no! There will be corrupting of Baby Boy. He's the only innocent one of them all and he's actually decent! Don't go corrupting him!" Ashlyn was whining pathetically and Corinne was laughing. Finally, after a twenty-minute argument, Ashlyn and Cori reached a sort of compromise. Corinne was free to go after Tyler, but it would not be for a one-night stand, as some of her relationships were, and he would not be corrupted anymore than he already was by Reid, which they agreed had to be a significant amount already. Ashlyn groaned as Corinne thought aloud of the various ways she could attempt to unleash Baby Boy's 'dark side.' She silently wondered if selective amnesia was possible.

* * *

Ashlyn woke up with a start early the next morning. This time the nightmare, though not one of her normal ones, had been much more terrifying. She had been in her dorm room listening to music and dancing sensually around the center of the room when two tattooed arms snaked around her torso. She felt herself relax into the embrace as soft lips pressed to the skin between her neck and shoulder. A husky voice whispered a question into her ear.

"So does that offer still stand?"

She turned in the embrace and slowly opened her eyes to see…Reid? His head was tilted slightly and slowly moving closer and closer until their lips barely touched.

That was when she woke up, breathing heavily and looking around confused. Corinne was sleeping quietly in the bed across the room. Ashlyn convinced herself that it was nothing. She had been thinking about Corinne and her vivid plans for _not _corrupting Tyler and the offer she had made to Reid. She didn't like him in any way. Sure, he was really hot and sexy and…but he hadn't shown any real interest in her anyway, other than a few perverted remarks that Tyler claimed he made to every girl that passed him by. Besides, he wasn't her type and she didn't have time for a relationship. It was too dangerous.

He didn't even know the truth about her family's death. None of them did, with the exception Corinne, and Scot. They all thought she'd just come here when she had nowhere else to go. They believed the police reports that recorded their deaths as an accident. The brakes locked up and nothing could have been done to save them. She doubted any of them would look at her the same when they found out what she was hiding; the fact that she had killed the only family she had ever known. Sure, she hadn't actually killed them, but she'd been warned and she kept it from them. She kept her little secret and it got them killed. In her mind that was just as good. Even Corinne and Scot, though they maintained that it wasn't Ashlyn's fault, were admittedly a little scared of what could happen to all of them and they had dangerous secrets of her own. There was a good reason Ashlyn hadn't pushed her and Scot away the way she had done with everyone else back in New York.

* * *

It was eight in the morning, nearly three hours later, when Ashlyn finally had enough of the silence and decided it was time for Corinne to wake up. Corinne was less than happy about her early wake up call. Fire blazed in her red-tinted brown eyes. She was built very similarly to Ashlyn. Corinne was about two inches taller and had a slightly smaller chest. She was thin and toned like Ashlyn, mostly due to running and training with Ashlyn for their entire lives. The two of them were so much alike it frightened some people. They acted and even thought alike. It wasn't abnormal for them to finish each other's sentences or to have entire conversations without saying a single word.

"Come on, Cor. Get up! I'm bored. We can go shopping if you want, or wake up Scotty and the boys and find something to do, but I'm bored!"

Corinne groaned, but eventually relented to Ashlyn's whining. The two of them grabbed their things and walked off toward the showers. They walked in and Corinne picked up Ashlyn's phone when it started to beep.

"Pogue says there's a party at the end of the week. He says we're going with them."

"I love how he likes to _ask _if I _want_ to go somewhere with them." Ashlyn was laughing slightly as she said it. She jumped a little when a girl came from around the corner with an angry glare directed at the two girls.

"If you mean Pogue Parry, back off. He's mine. I'm not giving him up to a couple of skanky bitches like you. Besides, he's not interested."

"Well that's a relief. I'd hate to see Baby Boy or our brothers get their panties in a twist all because one of us decided to mess around with Pogue. Did you see the look they gave Blondie just for trying to take us up on my _offer_?"

Ashlyn laughed at Corinne and went on to introduce them to the new girl.

"I'm Caleb's sister, Ashlyn Danvers and this is my best friend, Corinne Daniels. I'm guessing by the jealous outburst you're Kate, right? Pogue told me about you."

The cocoa-skinned girl laughed nervously and apologized. "Yeah. I'm Kate." The words did not seem as sincere to the girls as they should have.

"Well I can assure you we have no intention of stealing him from you. Harmless flirting, maybe, jokes, yes, but we won't try to steal him." Corinne promised with a halfway innocent expression.

Kate nodded, still unconvinced. She gave them more information about the party Pogue had informed them they were going to. The Spencer kids threw the bonfire at the Dells every year the weekend before school started back. It was guaranteed to be great, but also guaranteed to be busted up by the cops before one the following morning. That was just the way those parties always went.

"Well if you want to ride with my roommate and I, just stop by our room." The jealous undertone had not left her voice as she glanced at Corinne.

"That's okay. I'll probably drive, but we'll see you there." Ashlyn assured the older girl as she left the bathroom.

"Okay is it just me or was that a little weird? She doesn't really seem to like us very much does she?" Corinne said staring suspiciously at the bathroom door.

"Yeah, that was a little overboard. It was almost as if she expects him to cheat. I don't know if thing have changed in the past five years, but Pogue doesn't strike me as the cheating type."

"Drop the psychoanalysis, Ash. I was just saying she's a bitch."

The two girls laughed and showered before going back to their room to get dressed. They were going to look around town. Corinne felt the need to explore her new, if only temporary, home.

After several hours of walking around Ipswich and driving through the surrounding forest area, they got bored. They drove back to the dorms and called Tyler.

"Hey Ty? Rin and I are bored. Think of something. Please?"

Corinne waited impatiently as there was a pause.

"Okay. Where's that?" Another pause.

"Damn it. Okay, fine. We'll be ready in about an hour." Ashlyn hung up the phone and threw it at her bed, glaring at the black and silver object.

"We're going to Nicky's with Tyler and Reid...they're picking us up in an hour."

"Okay and what about that makes you want to torture your poor phone?"

"Reid...I had a dream about him last night."

Corinne gasped and looked offended by the fact that she hadn't been told earlier.

"Like a dirty dream? Do tell!" Corinne bounced excitedly on the bed.

"Corinne this isn't good. You know I can't afford to get too close to anyone here. I'm already putting them in enough danger. Not to mention you and Scot. Besides, he's just like all the guys back home. He wants to sleep with as many girls as he can as often as he can. I was just hoping to avoid him until this weekend so I could have time to burn that dream from my memory."

Corinne rolled her eyes. "You know that won't happen. You're like an elephant. You never forget. But, I see your point. You just have to understand that they're big boys. They can, in fact, take care of themselves. If you told them, maybe they could help. Oh and just in case you forgot, me and Scot came here willingly. We know what we're getting into and we can handle it. We aren't as defenseless as you seem to think."

Ashlyn nodded and the two changed clothes and reapplied their light makeup. They were sitting on Ashlyn's bed talking about something completely random and unimportant when they heard a knock at the door. It was Tyler and Reid.

Tyler drove them to Nicky's Bar with Reid in the passenger seat looking slightly anxious. Once they approached the parking lot, he was out the door before the Hummer had fully stopped. Once inside, he was immediately awaiting Tyler at the pool tables. Corinne found this entertaining.

"A little excited, are we Blondie?" He simply glared at the redhead.

"Chill, Reid. She didn't mean anything by it." Tyler's voice held a warning tone to it. Ashlyn looked on confused. Finally, she settled for trying to distract the disgruntled blond.

"How about me and Cori beat you in a game?" Ashlyn asked with a slight smirk. Reid shot one back and told her to rack up.

Twenty minutes later Ashlyn and Corinne were putting twenty dollars each into their pockets and Reid was even more discontent than before. His scowl hardened when a boy about their age in a lettermen jacket came into the bar with a guy at each of his shoulders.

The boy quickly swept over the bar with his eyes and landed on Ashlyn, or more accurately her chest. He sort of swaggered over toward them and spoke in what he must have thought was an alluring voice.

"Hey gorgeous. Why don't you and your friend ditch these losers and let us show you a _real_ good time." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Corinne cringed.

"How about you back off, Abbot." Reid growled putting a protective arm around Ashlyn's uncovered middle. His thumb rubbed affectionate circles on her hip.

"Already made your claim on this one? Okay, Garwin, have it your way. I prefer redheads anyway." He cast a glance toward Corinne and began to edge closer to her. He was nearly a foot away when he reached out a hand and touched her cheek.

"What do you say, babe?" Corinne looked disgusted at the obvious come on. Her grip on the pool stick tightened and before anyone knew what had happened, Aaron was on the ground clutching the space between his legs and Corinne stood above him pulling the pool stick back to her side.

"Not interested," she stated casually, walking out with Ashlyn and the boys following closely behind.

"Reid, you can let go of me now." Ashlyn said once they were outside. Reid's arm was still firmly around her waist. It felt good, right even, but it couldn't stay. There were too many other problems to think about.

He mumbled an apology and removed his arm leaving her with a sudden chill from the loss of body heat. She quickly looked for something else to focus her attention on.

"So Corinne, where did that come from?" Tyler asked, almost afraid of the petite redhead.

"Yeah Cori, usually you prevent guys from having children after they've groped you. He only touched your face. I've seen a lot of guys get away with much worse." Ashlyn asked, thankful for the distraction.

Corinne shrugged. "He gave me the creeps. Plus, if he's bad enough that Blondie here is trying to defend your honor I figured I should probably stay away. Now take us home, Hoke, I need to disinfect my face." Reid glared at the new nickname, but unlocked Tyler's Hummer anyway.

Ashlyn laughed nervously and chanced a quick look in Reid's direction. Corinne noticed and wisely chose to ask about it later. She loved to tease the girl who was like her sister, but this had too many other factors to discuss it in public. Both girls knew that Ashlyn couldn't afford relationships until after several other problems were resolved. They drove the girls back to the dorms then left to go back to Nicky's. Reid wanted to add insult to Abbot's new injury. Tyler translated it to mean that he wanted to spend the rest of the night taking his money.

They made it back up to the room in silence. Corinne tried to ask her friend about the blond boy, but Ashlyn was clearly not in the mood to talk. She ignored Corinne's attempts to start a conversation and immediately began to dress for bed. Corinne gave her a look that unmistakably said 'we'll talk about it tomorrow' and the girls went to sleep.


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Here's Chapter Three. It's going to finally get to the beginning of the movie.

**Alone**

**Chapter Three: Mistrust**

It had been three days since Corinne and Ashlyn had gone to Nicky's with Tyler and Reid. Ashlyn still wouldn't talk to Corinne about her dreams or her feelings, however dangerous, for the aggravating blonde. She was purposefully spending more and more time at the dance studio and running inane errands, like picking up her uniform for classes, which started the next week. She knew she couldn't avoid Corinne forever. She just needed to avoid her until the party Friday night at the Dells. Corinne was persistent, but far from stupid. A party was hardly the place to talk about issues, magical or personal. So, that was her plan. It would have worked too, if she hadn't been cornered on her way out the door on the morning of the party. Corinne must have been desperate, because nothing ever got her out of bed before ten under normal circumstances.

"Okay, I've had enough. Spill your guts or I'll do it for you and don't think I won't."

"It's not important. I can't be with him or anyone else and you know it."

"It sure as hell is important. You can't be with him _now. _Once we figure this mess out though, you're a free woman again. Of course, then you have to work around both of out idiot brothers, Tyler, and Pogue. That should be your biggest worry."

"There's more to it than that. You know Reid's type. Tyler says he's never actually had a girlfriend, just multiple fuck-buddies. I'm not that girl. That's your department."

"Yeah, I guess you're—hey! I'm not a slut! I'm just less picky than you are."

"Uh huh. Whatever you say, Cori."

Corinne glared at her friend. Ashlyn was trying to keep from laughing aloud.

"Whatever. And you know I can count the number of guys I've been with on one hand. It's not like I just hand it out to anyone."

"I know. I'm just messing with you." They smiled for a moment.

"You'd be a whole lot less uptight if you got laid once in a while anyway. And don't give me that 'I want it to be special' bull. That's not it." Her teasing tone disappeared and her face got serious, "You've been holding out for this kid since you were thirteen and he missed your birthday party. You're right. Now isn't the time, but once this is over, there won't be anything left to hide behind. What are you going to do then?"

Ashlyn just glared and walked out the door. Corinne didn't bother following. She'd already made her point. Instead, she went down the hall to wake her idiot brother.

line

"Dumbass, get out of bed!" she ordered picking the lock with bobby pin.

"No!"

"Now, moron. I need to talk to you."

"What is it?" he sat up, now completely awake at hearing the very serious tone to her voice.

"Something Ashlyn related. Something big is coming, and it's coming soon."

He looked worried. Having a nearly omniscient baby sister meant that when she had a bad feeling, it shouldn't be taken lightly.

"What should we do?"

"Prepare for the worst. I need to see Suriya soon. I have a feeling we'll need her."

Scot groaned. "Wonderful. The little bitch can help you two get on my nerves."

"Oh shut up. You just don't like her because she shot you down and then kicked your ass at poker at her brother's graduation party."

He still sat brooding on the bed, neither confirming nor denying his sister's statement.

"Just get dressed. We're going to a party tonight and I want to go talk to Suri beforehand."

"Why am I going to the party, again?" he whined.

"Drunken high school girls," she deadpanned, "and we may need you to get us out of there fast if something happens."

"Yeah, I don't really care for that last part. Don't come get me unless it's a real emergency."

Corinne rolled her eyes and muttered "Perv" under her breath.

Scot just smiled his most charming smile and she shoved him.

"That doesn't work on me. I'm your sister. I'm immune."

He just stuck his tongue out and she left him to get dressed.

line

Ashlyn was frustrated. As much as she hated to admit it, Corinne had been right. She'd always held guys to an imaginary standard that was "Reid Garwin." She'd liked him since they were kids. Of course, he'd aggravated her to no end since then too. That's why he'd never known about her little crush. None of them had known. Ashlyn had always worked very hard to make sure those boys spent as little time picking on her as possible. Besides that, Reid was the only one who she was never to. He was the least protective of her. He spoke to her the least amount. He was always more interested in whatever Jeremy was saying or whatever prank he and Tyler were going to play or anything other than her. Of course then, it had just been a silly childhood crush. And then he was gone. The crush just never went away with him.

Now she was in Ipswich with him, he was actually showing interest (to an extent), and now getting close to him—to any of them—could get them all killed. Irony was not her friend. She needed a break. She needed to get away from people, from thinking, and from all of her problems. She found herself driving into town and to Miss Jeannie's dance studio.

After a couple hours dancing, she felt much better. That was, until she saw Reid at the cafe down the street. He was with some girl with light brown hair and way too much make up. She thought about just turning around and going in the opposite direction, but her car was parked in front of that cafe.

'Shit.'

She tried to keep her eyes on her car and the street signs and anything but the blonde boy and his 'date.' She was nearly past them when she chanced a glance in their direction. Her eyes met Reid's and she immediately broke from his gaze, but she could have sworn she'd seen something in those gray-blue orbs in that half second they had met her brown ones. She just couldn't place it.

She gripped her keys harder and walked faster back to her car. Once safely behind the darkly tinted windows, she took a deep breath to collect herself before starting the car and driving off.

'Guess he's still not interested...'

She drove slowly back to Spencer. She didn't want to deal with Corinne's lecturing at that moment. So her normal lead foot had an uncommonly light touch. She used every excuse she could think of to delay going back to the dorm. She went to the car wash, to the gas station, she drove toward the mechanic, planning to get an oil change and her tires rotated, and then realized Pogue was there with his Ducati, as he'd been every other day for the past week. She did some grocery shopping, justified by convincing herself that the mini-fridge full of junk food that was currently between hers and Cori's beds needed restocking. She then decided she needed to go get a trim (her layers were growing out) so she spent the next half hour painstakingly searching for a salon she approved of. By the time she ran out of excuses to avoid going home, it was nearly time to start getting ready for the party, so she finally pulled into the Spencer parking lot.

Corinne took one look at the freshly groomed girl and the bags of junk food and immediately knew what she had done.

"I wasn't going to say anything else. I made my point. You didn't have to buy out the convenience store to keep from coming back early. I wasn't here anyway." There was a joking tone to her voice, but Ashlyn could tell she was a little offended. So she mumbled an apology and offered a King Size Twix as a peace offering. Corinne laughed and took the candy, pulling her friend in for a hug.

"What happened?" Corinne had always had the uncanny ability to sense her friend's distress.

"He was on a date. I got a wonderful view. They were at the cafe near the studio. My car was parked on the street there."

"Oh, Sweetie, I'm so sorry. Don't worry about him. He's a jackass. Come on, we'll go make you look amazing for that party tonight and he'll see exactly what he's missing. We'll make him jealous as hell and you'll feel much better. Trust me. By the way, where's that idiot brother of mine? I need to cut his hair."

At that moment, the 'idiot brother' walked through the door with an electric trimmer in one hand and a sheet of paper and pen in the other.

Ashlyn reached for the paper in curiosity and burst out laughing not even three lines in.

"Really? You're going to be that anal retentive about your hair?"

Corinne perked up at that and snatched the paper from Ashlyn's grasp. She read it all the way through and then looked up at her brother.

"You have got to be kidding me! A contract? You wrote up a legally binding contract to keep me from fucking up your hair?"

"Actually, I called Keegan yesterday and _she_ wrote up a legally binding contract and emailed it too me. I just hit print."

"You called your cousin?" Ashlyn asked shocked and more than a little amused.

"No, I called my lawyer. The fact that she's also my cousin is irrelevant." He flashed them a cocky grin and handed the pen to his sister. "You fuck up my hair and I get to shave your head. Those are the terms. Take 'em or leave 'em."

Corinne grumbled a bit, but signed the paper. Ashlyn just watched in amusement. Twenty minutes later, Scot's green mohawk was gone and his hair was re-gelled so that the little one inch spikes stuck up everywhere.

"Happy?" Corinne asked once she was done.

"Very. Good job, baby sister, you can keep your hair."

"Gee, thanks, your majesty."

"You know sarcasm doesn't really suit you." He laughed as he walked back to his room to let the girls change.

Corinne threw her pillow after him, but only hit the door. "I despise him some days."

"You do not. You'd kill for him and he'd do the same for you."

"Yeah, well that doesn't mean he's not a jackass."

Ashlyn laughed at her pouting friend. Corinne smiled back. At least she was happy again.

It took them nearly two hours, most of that time spent arguing over how short Ashlyn's skirt had to be before it was considered _too _short, but they were ready. Corinne's idea was significantly shorter than Ashlyn's. They finally finished not thirty seconds before Scot returned to the room whining that he wanted to leave.

"Oh, shut up, Scotty. We're ready," Ashlyn said, giving him a peck on the cheek as she passed. Corinne did the same and followed her down to Ashlyn's Escape. Corinne called Tyler for directions and relayed them to Ashlyn, who got a little frustrated when she realized she'd gotten her car washed only to drive out into the middle of the woods. They finally arrived and stood in a circle. Rock, Paper, Scissors commenced. Scot lost and groaned as Ashlyn handed him the keys. He was the designated driver, again. He really needed to think of a new deciding game.

After their little game, Scot and the girls went their separate ways. Corinne spotted Kate laughing with some blonde girl and dragged Ashlyn in their direction.

"Hey Kate," Ashlyn chirped.

"Hey! Sarah, this is Ashlyn Danvers and her friend Corinne Daniels. Girls, this is my roommate, Sarah Wenham." The girls greeted each other politely, before Kate got impatient. "Now, back to what I was saying. First thing you have to know is that Aaron Abbot is a prick. Treats girls like dirt."

"Don't worry, he'll think twice with Cori here. She gave him a swift pool cue to the groin a few days ago. I doubt he'll be so eager to try again." Corinne grinned proudly and Ashlyn just rolled her eyes.

"Okay, who's that?" Sarah asked nodding toward a guy several yards away.

"New guy." Kate's interest seemed to be more than just a healthy curiosity.

"He's looking over here." Sarah said excitedly. Ashlyn and Corinne glanced over and sure enough, he was staring at them, or more specifically Kate.

"Don't know much about him, but I intend to find out." The look in her eye made Ashlyn more than a little angry. Wasn't she supposed to be completely devoted to Pogue?

"He's cute." Sarah was oblivious, but Kate nodded in agreement, eyes still locked with the mystery boy.

"Yo Caleb!" was heard off in the distance and Kate's attention was immediately drawn away from the new guy.

"They're here!" she whispered excitedly.

"Wonderful," Ashlyn mumbled and Corinne squeezed her hand in comfort.

"Who're they?" Sarah asked curiously.

"The Sons of Ipswich."

Ashlyn and Corinne couldn't hold in their amusement at the ridiculous nickname. Ashlyn's eyes went wide and Corinne snorted, but tried to cover it up with a cough.

"Hey Kate, Cori, Ashlyn."

"Caleb, hi!" Kate said excitedly. Ashlyn just grunted in acknowledgment and Corinne waved. Kate then threw her arms around Pogue and kissed him.

"Your late," she said against his lips.

"I had a thing with the family." Ashlyn raised an eyebrow, as if to say 'I didn't know the bike was _family_,' but he continued talking to Kate. "Who's this?"

"My new roommate. Sarah, this is Pogue Parry, Tyler Simms, Reid–" Kate's introduction was cut off abruptly.

"Garwin. Reid Garwin. Good evening." He was trying, far too hard to be suave and it failed.

"Good evening," Sarah giggled, humoring him. Ashlyn was getting tired of watching, but it was like an awful train wreck. She couldn't tear her eyes away.

"You know, Sarah's my grandmother's name. You kind of remind me of her a little." That was the last straw for both Ashlyn and Corinne. Ashlyn walked off and Corinne burst into peels of laughter.

"What, did you lose a bet or something?" She was still laughing and mumbling something about his grandmother as she went off to find Ashlyn.

She found her by the keg, drink already in hand. Ashlyn took a big drink and made a face.

"I hate the taste of beer. Do you think they have anything stronger? If it's going to taste bad, I at least want to get drunk."

"No, there will be no getting drunk. For fun it's one thing, but you don't need to be drinking because of some guy."

"What was he doing anyway? I mean it was bad enough that he was hitting on her just seconds after meeting her, but he was doing it badly too. What's he playing at?" Ashlyn was just getting started on her rant when someone announced cops were coming. The students scattered.

Corinne and Ashlyn made it back to the car, just seconds before Scot who, ironically, had Reid's bimbo from earlier that day on his arm. Ashlyn cringed. Corinne gave him a look that clearly said 'she'll get in this car over my dead body,' and just in case he misunderstood, she spoke the words to him telepathically seconds later.

"We aren't going back to the school, Scot. Sorry, Hon, you'll have to find another bed to warm tonight." The girl glared at Corinne's too-sweet smile, but walked up to another car and immediately found that new bed, as well as a ride home. Scot got into the car and weaved his way free from the woods and back onto the main road.

"So why aren't we going back to Spenser?" he asked frustrated.

"Oh, we are. I just wasn't spending the thirty-minute drive back to Ipswich with her. Besides, you should be thanking me. I wouldn't think you would want Blondie's leftovers." Both Scot and Ashlyn cringed a bit at the thought of any and all girls that have been with Reid Garwin. Corinne and Scot hadn't been in Ipswich long, but the blond boy's reputation preceded him. Whispers about his latest conquest were popular in the girls' bathroom. Scot wasn't exactly a fan of Reid's. Any time he hit on a girl back at the dorms, Corinne would quickly send him a mental image of her kissing or doing other dirty things with Reid. He wasn't entirely sure which ones she fished out of those girls' minds and which ones she thought up her self, just to make him miserable.

Ashlyn's cringe, though it came from the same disgust at the thought of any girl with Reid, was also tinted with jealousy. She knew she had no claim to him, but seeing him with other girls, or hearing about it from girls in the bathroom on her floor and even from Tyler, hurt a little more each time. Since being in Ipswich, she'd wanted so many times to hate him for it, or if nothing else, to forget about him and just move on with her life. However, each time she tried, he would send her that flirty smirk or feed her some line (one she was sure he'd fed to tens of girls before her) and it would draw her back in. For that moment, she would let herself believe that he really meant it and that, once this was all over, they could actually be together.

She knew she couldn't keep on like she was. She swore to herself it would be the last time. She wouldn't let Reid Garwin get under her skin ever again. She was strong and didn't need a guy anyway. Especially, one like him. She could play his game right back. She could be flirty one minute and pretend he didn't exist the next. Ashlyn had never been anyone's plaything and she wouldn't have Reid toss her emotions around as if they were nothing any more. Sure, he didn't do it on purpose, but that didn't keep it from happening. She wouldn't let it happen again. She was done.

Corinne watched Ashlyn's internal battle, having a pretty good idea of what it was about, even without peeking into her best friend's mind. She just hoped it would work as they walked up to their room and changed for bed. The last though on her mind as she closed the door to their room:

'I hope she knows what she's doing.'

line

Not even twenty minutes later, Ashlyn was woken up by a scream in the hall. She walked out to see Kate's roommate, Sarah, in a towel. She looked terrified as she spoke to a smirking Reid Garwin.

'Of course he's smirking, the smug asshole. What did I ever see in him?' she thought as she watched silently from her doorway.

"Sorry, I'm just a little freaked out. I felt like someone was watching me in the showers." Well, at least that explained why she was in a towel, and why she looked so scared. Sarah glanced back toward the bathroom.

'Something really spooked her,' Ashlyn thought, feeling sorry for the blonde girl.

"Let's take a look shall we?" Reid seemed all too eager to follow Sarah into the girls' showers. Ashlyn rolled her eyes and made her presence known.

"I don't think so, Garwin. Go to your room. I'll take care of this." Ashlyn looked back and forth between Sarah, the bathroom, and Reid. Reid was about to push, but the look Ashlyn gave him left little room for argument. He didn't exactly want a repeat of the episode in the Danvers' living room. His pride was still a little bruised from that one. Reid, however, had never been one to count on to think before he spoke.

"You sure you don't want me to come with you, Ash. A nice, steamy shower with me seems like just what you need to loosen up that stick you have up your ass." He smirked. He just knew she would back down. She wasn't one to attack with words.

"Oh, I'm sure. I suggest you leave now, before Sarah here gets to see that smirk wiped clean off your face when I knock you flat on your back." The look she gave him said she wasn't bluffing. She'd do it if he just gave her the opportunity. He stepped back, discreetly leaving her reach.

"Didn't know you liked to be on top, Danvers. I'll have to remember that." He flashed another smirk her way, but still made his way down the hall toward the stairs and his own room.

"God, he's so annoying! How does he turn everything into something dirty?"

"Well you did say you wanted him on his back." Ashlyn shot Sarah a dirty look and stalked off toward the girls' showers.

She looked around and a chill went up her spine despite the warm, steam-filled air. Something had been in here, but it wasn't something Sarah needed to know about.

"Looks like the bulb just burst. Nothing to worry about." The girls exited and Ashlyn watched Sarah walk back into her room before opening her door and shaking Corinne awake.

"Get up! I need you to come check something out." Corinne was angry, but Ashlyn's frightened tone made her force herself out of bed. She let her friend drag her down the hall to the bathroom and gasped when she entered.

"So you feel it too." Ashlyn whispered and Corinne nodded.

"Is it him?" The hitch in Ashlyn's voice made her question all too clear to Corinne. Was it the same person who had taken her family from her? Was it the same person who took the lives of three people, one of whom was barely a toddler, and forced Ashlyn to leave her home? She wasn't sure which answer she would rather give. Would it be better to say 'Yes, the guy who killed three innocent people in warning to you is here, not only in Ipswich, but he was feet from our dorm' or would it hurt less for it to be something else, a new danger for them to face. She took a deep breath and told Ashlyn the truth.

"No, it's not him. This power is different. It's more like yours, but it's wild. It's so out of control, it's almost like it's pulling this person apart. I can actually feel the power. This guy is crazy with it. He's so angry. Ashlyn, I think he already hurt someone. Not Sarah, but someone else. This isn't good. The power, it isn't like yours or any of the guys. It's the same power, but it's stronger somehow and it's malicious. Magic isn't supposed to be bad or good. It's the person and their actions and intentions, but this is different. The magic is tainted. It's _evil,_ Ash." Corinne look scared. She'd never felt anything like this.

Ashlyn didn't know what to think as she walked a shaking Corinne back to their room. This wasn't good. That much, she knew.

line

Neither girl slept for the rest of the night. They didn't talk, they barely moved. Both were lost in their own thoughts. It was well past eight before Corinne finally broke the silence. She took a deep, settling breath.

"I went and saw Suriya yesterday."

Ashlyn looked up sharply. This wasn't exactly good news to her. Suriya came from one of the only other magical families they had known back in New York. Involving her only meant one thing: Things in Ipswich were about to get much, much worse.

"While I was in town?" Corinne nodded. She knew Ashlyn wouldn't take the news well. She didn't want to involve anyone else, and that made her choose her next words even more carefully.

"Suri...she knew I was coming. Kazuo was there. She called him back into town. He's working on transferring her here, but she doesn't know if she'll make it in time. She seems to think that whatever is coming will be here soon."

Ashlyn couldn't think. She could barely breathe. It was too much to deal with. Now she not only had to worry about her own nightmares coming back to haunt her, but a new evil in her new home. She didn't know if she could handle it.

Corinne's jerky movements caught her attention. There was more.

"What else did she say?" Her tone made Cori flinch. She hated that Ashlyn was angry, but it had to be done.

"Whatever is coming, it's not after you. She doesn't know who or what it wants, but it isn't you, me, or Scot."

That sounded like good news, but Corinne's tone didn't change. "It's after power, hungry for it, but it's more than that. I could feel it. It wants revenge. It isn't after us, and Ipswich isn't exactly a Mecca for magical beings."

Ashlyn knew what was coming now. Corinne took a shaky breath and continued slowly, "I think it's after the guys."

So many thoughts were running through her head all at once. She didn't know what to do or say. The guys didn't have anyone like Corinne or Suriya. They would have no way of knowing what was coming. How would she explain this to them? They didn't know she even had the power. What would they think when she found out that she'd kept this from them? Would they trust that she was telling them the truth or think _she_ was the threat? If she told them, did that mean she had to tell them about the evil after her as well? At this point, she didn't know which was more dangerous: telling them, or keeping them in the dark.

Scot popped in their room breaking her out of her thoughts.

"We have a door you know?" Corinne grumbled. Her heart wasn't in it though. She couldn't even scold her brother properly she was so scared.

"We have a problem," he said as he threw down a newspaper and ignoring her comment. Both girls gasped.

There was no way this was coincidence. Corinne had already felt it. She knew this new power had already hurt someone, she just didn't know that it had already killed.

Ashlyn took a deep breath and, never looking away from the picture of the boy, spoke to Scot. "Call Kazuo. Tell him he can work on enrolling Suriya from here. We need them. No more waiting. I have to tell the guys. This has gone too far already."

The girls watched as Scot pulled out his phone and called the older man. Kazuo was only in his mid twenties, but he'd always been more like a parent to his baby sister. Their mother had been quite bitter when her daughter had received the power and she had not. Suriya from a very young age had proven to be very gifted at divination. Something that caught their grandmother's eye and her love as well. When their grandmother was still alive, they lived as a family, but once she died a few years back, their mother threw the poor girl out on the streets. Kazuo, then twenty-two and already CEO of the American branches of their father's company, brought the fifteen year old to New York and took her in.

There she met Corinne and Ashlyn and the three girls formed a bond. They were like sisters, though each of them was very different. Suriya was a year to the day older than Ashlyn, just months older than Scot. Corinne was the baby at only sixteen, but that didn't bother her. She enjoyed being the baby.

The five of them had gone through a lot together. Nothing happened to any one of them without at least one of the others by their side. Kazuo, as cool and unfeeling as he seemed, cared more for those girls than anything. Jeremy's death had been hard on all of them. They weren't a very conventional family, but they were tied by the power, different as it was, that ran through their veins. Kazuo didn't have power like his sister and her friends, but he had influence, and he had the kind of personality that had helped them get through many tough times. If they were going to survive this, they needed to be together, whether Ashlyn liked it or not.

Scot hung up the phone and looked at the girls with sad eyes. "He's trying, he really is, but he said the earliest they can get here is mid-week. Suriya said to be careful."

"Damn it!" Ashlyn sent her fist through the wall by her bed. She retracted her bruised and slightly bloody knuckles and, upon seeing Corinne's disapproving glance, used to fix the wall. She could care less about her hand. She couldn't really feel it anyway. She couldn't feel anything. She had to get out of there. She needed time to think. Everything was coming at her much too fast and she didn't know how much longer she could take it before she broke.

She growled at Corinne to call Tyler and find out where they would be tonight before storming from the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Told you she wouldn't be happy," Scot grumbled.

"I knew she wouldn't be happy, Scotty! What was I supposed to do though? I felt something coming. Suriya can sense these things a hell of a lot better than I can. I know she didn't want to tell them and I know she didn't want Suriya and Kazuo in danger, but we can't do this alone. One murderous psycho with magical powers maybe, but not two. She's more afraid of letting more innocent people die than she is of involving some that actually stand a chance of surviving."

Scot nodded in understanding and reached out to hug his teary-eyed baby sister. They were too young to deal with things like this. No one should ever have to deal with this much death, let alone feel responsible for stopping it. He knew his girls, Ashlyn, Cori, even Suriya, and he knew they could handle a lot, but even the strongest break under enough pressure.

line

Ashlyn was running. She couldn't be trusted in a car right now, her hands shook, her vision was blurred by tears, and she had no idea where she was going. All that she knew was that she had to get away. She didn't want to be around anyone she knew. She couldn't go to the studio. With everything else going on, she was terrified for Miss Jeanie and the girls. She ran for over an hour. Exhausted and drenched in sweat, she found herself in a park nearly ten miles from the school, one she'd passed hundreds of time since being in Ipswich. It was on the outskirts of town, near the Russell Orchards Winery. It was small, quiet, and no one from school would be there under normal circumstances, let alone on a Saturday morning. It was perfect.

She sat on a bench, watching the little kids on the playground. One little girl in particular caught her eye. She couldn't have been any older than three or four. She had tiny blonde ringlets hanging down to her shoulders. She looked so much like Olivia. She pulled out her phone, as it was vibrating in the pocket of the tattered, old soccer shorts she wore. It was Corinne, so she simply pressed ignore. She knew she wasn't calling to talk anyway, just to leave a message telling her where they were meeting the guys later. She regretted pulling out the phone the second her background flashed. It was a picture of her and Livvy, at the toddler's third birthday. The little girl sat in her lap, chocolate cake all over her mouth, and both of them wore bright smiles on their faces. Ashlyn looked from the picture to the girl, currently being pushed by her father on the swings, and couldn't stop the tears that fell down her cheeks.

"You know, I'm pretty sure that creeping around a kids' playground like this is borderline illegal," a familiar, and annoyingly cocky, voice spoke from behind her.

"Get lost, Garwin! I can't deal with you right now." She wiped her cheek with the back of her hand and winced when she brushed against a battered knuckle. She knew he noticed when she felt him sit beside her.

He refrained from asking about the hand, and for a moment, she was thankful. Until he spoke, that is.

"So, what's with the kid?" He nodded toward the girl on the swing and the only thing that came to mind was 'I'd have preferred talking about the hand.'

She handed him her phone, not saying a word. He stared confused for a moment before recognizing the little girl's clear blue eyes. He knew those eyes, only the last time he'd seen them, they belonged to a young man with dirty blond hair. They were Jeremy's eyes.

"Her name was Olivia. She was three years old." This was her niece. The same niece that died in the car crash with Jeremy and his wife. That little girl on the swings could almost be her twin from a distance. He understood. Her tears had nothing to do with the little girl on the swings. Her broken voice and puffy, red eyes were caused by the little girl whose picture he held in his hand. For once in his life, Reid Garwin was speechless.

"When I lost my mom, it was hard, but I still had Jeremy and Anna and eventually Livvy. Then when they died, I thought I might as well have gone with them. I know she was only technically my aunt and him, my cousin, but they raised me. They were my family. When I was little, it was the three of us. I never questioned it. I mean, I guess I wondered what it would be like to have a dad, but I never really pushed it, you know." He knew the question was rhetorical, so he didn't bother answering and she continued, her voice just as broken as before.

"I don't know what I expected to be different when I got here. Okay, so I expected to have a new family, one that I didn't already know, and who didn't sit back and watch while my world fell apart back home. I thought I'd get a father for the first time in my life, but no, he's dead too. I heard some girls in the dorm talking about it. Instead, I have a _perfect _brother who thinks he knows fucking everything and a mother I can't even speak to, let alone trust."

It was then that her brokenness was replaced with anger. "She didn't even come to either of their funerals. Her own family! None of you did. I had to take care of Jeremy's myself. I was the only family member there. He was only twenty-three! He wasn't supposed to die. I don't know what I'm supposed to do now."

Reid didn't speak for a minute. He really saw her for the first time in that moment, with her sagging shoulders, puffy, red eyes, cradling her obviously bruised, if not broken, hand. Ashlyn looked so broken and tired. It hurt him to see her that defeated and, in that moment, he'd have done anything to make her happy again.

"Come on," he said, barely nudging her shoulder. They walked nearly to his car, or more accurately Tyler's car, before she asked him where they were going.

"First, I'm going to fix that hand. I've put my fists through enough walls to know what it looks like. I also know it must hurt like hell." He pulled a first aid kit from Tyler's glove box and soaked a cotton ball in anesthetic. As he took her hand in his, he closed his eyes and touched the cotton ball to her broken skin. Despite the sting, she could feel the power surrounding her and fixing the damage done to her hand.

When he opened his eyes, he noticed the curious look she gave him.

"Why do you do that?" she asked, rubbing the top of her now healed hand.

"Do what?"

"Close your eyes like that when you use? It isn't like I don't know about the power."

He shrugged. "Force of habit I guess. We better get going. I have something I think you should see. Caleb's going to kill me though, so that may have to wait until tomorrow. Tonight, I want you to meet me and the guys at Nicky's. You can watch me kick Abbot's ass at pool."

She smiled slightly at the devilish smirk he flashed thinking about the money he would soon make off Aaron Abbot. He relaxed upon seeing her smile. Things were looking up. A genuine smile reached his lips for merely a second before being replaced with his patented smirk. As they pulled back up at the school, he walked her back towards her room, or at least to her floor, before telling her to meet him and the other Sons at seven. She walked back to her room, finally calm and feeling the confidence she'd been missing since the death of her adoptive family.

line

It wasn't until they were about to leave for Nicky's that she remembered the new danger and the talk she had to have with Caleb and his friends. She could actually feel the confidence drain from her body, along with the blood in her face. Pale as a sheet, she shakily handed Corinne her keys, as Scot had opted to stay in with his _date._ She didn't feel like driving and he was _occupied_. Ashlyn shook her head to rid herself of her thoughts of exactly what he was doing back in his dorm room.

Nicky's was packed, so Corinne dropped her off at the door and went to look for a parking space. Ashlyn walked in just in time to nearly be knocked over by a pissed off Aaron Abbot and his goons. She saw Kate at a table flirting shamelessly with the new guy, and Sarah glancing nervously at the back door.

"Hey, where are the guys?" she asked the blonde.

"Out there. Do you think we should go out there and check on them?"

Ashlyn shook her head and told her to go find Corinne in the parking lot, then proceeded to walk out the back door.

The sight that met her as she slipped through the door silently, without drawing the attention of anyone inside or out, was more than a little shocking. Tyler and Pogue stood off to each side of the door with Caleb and Reid in the middle. Caleb had his back to her, his hand on Reid's shoulder. Reid held his wrist and his eyes were like onyx. He was using.

"Reid, stop," Caleb said struggling to breathe. Ashlyn assumed his eyes must have flashed black as well, because in the next moment, Reid flew into the metal storage building behind him. She was too stunned to move or even make a sound. She just watched as Tyler and Pogue glanced between their fighting friends and each other, not knowing what to do.

"What will it take for you to get it? It's addictive you moron! You've seen what it can do if you abuse it. You want that? That's your business. But if you use in the open like you did tonight you risk exposing us all. And that I won't let happen." Caleb's voice was commanding and the words were spoken through gritted teeth. Reid struggled to his feet, his breathing heavy. A keg, Ashlyn couldn't tell if it was full or empty, began to float by Reid.

"My power's greater than yours." Caleb's matter-of-fact tone made Ashlyn's fists clench. If this is how he'd been acting since he turned thirteen, she couldn't blame Reid for wanting to show him a lesson.

"Not until you ascend," Reid said determined. That was typical of the blond son, ever the stubborn one.

"Alright, go for it, tough guy." Caleb was taunting him now.

'Don't take the bait, Reid. He's just trying to get a rise out of you. He wants you to use. Don't do it.' Ashlyn silently begged Reid and any god that would hear her, that he wouldn't do anything stupid.

Unfortunately, being that he was Reid Garwin, and because he can't read her thoughts, her pleas went unanswered. Caleb's taunting just pissed him off more. He launched the keg at the older boy, but Caleb deflected it easily and sent Reid flying back again, this time into a huge stack of empty glass bottles. He started toward the obviously injured boy, and that's when Ashlyn snapped.

"Reid!" She rushed forward, her eyes flashing black, and Caleb hit the storage building he'd thrown Reid into moments before with a painful thud. She held him there, bound by invisible ropes, as Tyler ran to Reid and half carried him from the mess of boxes and broken glass. Caleb didn't even look at her, but struggled against her binds as if he really wanted to go after the blond boy down the alley.

"Leave him alone," she growled in an icy calm voice. Caleb froze and his eyes landed on his little sister. Three other sets of eyes looked on cautious and confused as realization hit them.

On the bright side, she no longer had to think of a way to tell them _that _part of her story. The looks she was receiving clearly mirrored their thoughts.

Ashlyn had the power.


	5. Chapter 4

**AN:** Sorry, again, for the long wait. It's been a very long few months. I know you probably thought I had abandoned this story, but I haven't!

**Alone**

**Chapter Four: Explanations**

**(Recap)**

_He launched the keg at the older boy, but Caleb deflected it easily and sent Reid flying back again, this time into a huge stack of empty glass bottles. He started toward the obviously injured boy, and that's when Ashlyn snapped. _

"_Reid!" She rushed forward, her eyes flashing black, and Caleb hit the storage building he'd thrown Reid into moments before with a painful thud. She held him there, bound by invisible ropes, as Tyler ran to Reid and half carried him from the mess of boxes and broken glass. Caleb didn't even look at her, but struggled against her binds as if he really wanted to go after the blond boy down the alley._

"_Leave him alone," she growled in an icy calm voice. Caleb froze and his eyes landed on his little sister. Three other sets of eyes looked on cautious and confused as realization hit them._

_On the bright side, she no longer had to think of a way to tell them that part of her story. The looks she was receiving clearly mirrored their thoughts._

_Ashlyn had the power._

**(End Recap)**

Once Tyler and Reid got closer, Ashlyn abruptly dropped her brother and went to help Tyler carry some of the injured Son's weight. Caleb rose to his feet and immediately went for Reid again, only to have a no longer stationary Pogue restrain him.

"Stop it! This is crazy!" Pogue yelled through gritted teeth.

"It's for his own good. Keep using like you did tonight—like you did last night—when you ascend you'll be as good as dead." Caleb's eyes were still black. He was ready to attack Reid if given the chance.

"So I fixed her car, big deal!" Reid defended his using, though, Ashlyn noticed, not the underlying accusation of addiction.

"Don't play me, Reid. I'm talking later and you know it." His eyes were back to brown, but his struggling continued. It was easy to see his concern for the younger boy buried underneath his anger. Reid shoved Tyler off, but pulled away from Ashlyn more gently.

"The hell I do!" Reid yelled, getting right back up in Caleb's face. "I didn't use later." he growled up at him before shoving past Pogue and back inside Nicky's.

"It's not right using on each other, Caleb." Tyler said, obviously upset over being forced to choose between people he thought of as family.

"Tell it to Reid." he complained, brushing off the youngest Son's concern. Tyler just gave up and went inside to find Reid.

"Reid's lying. It had to have been him." Pogue rolled his eyes and Ashlyn, whom had once again gone unnoticed, snapped into action.

"How the hell do you know that? Huh, Caleb? Did you get some crazy power of omniscience that came with being first born? You obviously didn't know about me. How do you know there aren't others with the power? Are you really that ignorant? All those stories about the Witch Trials here and in Europe and you still think you and your Covenant are the only magical beings in the world?" She was mocking him now, but both he and Pogue remained silent.

"Guess what, Caleb? You're wrong. That's right. The Golden Boy of the Covenant is wrong. I exist. I have powers. So do Cori and Scot and hundreds or even thousands of others around the world. How do you know it was Reid using last night?"

"It's always Reid, Ash. Haven't you seen it? He's addicted! Why are you defending him? If you have the power then you know as well as I do how important it is to stay hidden. I know it was him and I can't just let him get away with thinking it is okay."

"How the hell can you be so smart and so stupid at the same time? I just told you that you aren't the only ones with powers. I just fucking used on you and you still think it was Reid?" Fury quickly replaced her annoyance. She didn't know how she was going to convince them that something was coming for them if their "leader" wouldn't even accept the fact that other magical beings existed.

"Well, was it you?" he accused.

"No, but I don't think it was Reid either." She turned her back to him and began to walk inside. Before she reached the door, Pogue called out to her.

"Ash?" She turned. "Why didn't you tell us?" He sounded hurt. She barely spoke to Caleb, unless it was to insult him, and she avoided Reid when at all possible, but she told Pogue and Tyler almost everything. She felt guilty. The last thing she wanted was to hurt them. She looked down for a moment, before looking up to meet his eyes.

"I'm sorry Pogo. I can't tell you that right now." She hated not being able to tell him, but she didn't know what the threat they faced was, let alone where it was or what it was capable of doing. She couldn't risk telling them here. She turned to go in but Caleb called her back this time.

"Ashlyn, we need to talk about this." Translation: Ashlyn, I don't trust you. She simply sighed, annoyed by his superior tone.

"I know that, Caleb, but this is neither the time nor the place. I'll tell you everything soon, but I'm not saying it more than once, so I need all of you in one place, and I'm not telling you in the back alley of some bar where anyone could hear or see. If you're so worried about revealing yourself to the world, think before you go and attack someone with your powers." With that, she walked inside. Sarah, along with a relieved Corinne, came up to her immediately.

"I saw Reid. What happened? Is Caleb okay? What about Tyler and Pogue?" Sarah hit her with question after question, without breathing between. When she finally took a breath, Ashlyn put up a hand to silence her.

"Reid's an idiot. Pogue is fine, and if you saw Reid, you should have seen Tyler too, so you should know he's fine. Caleb has a bruised ego, but otherwise he's fine too. Where's Kate?" Ashlyn's tone was more resigned than curious. She had an idea of where the cocoa-skinned girl had gone.

"She left with Chase just after you got here. It was before Corinne even got inside." Sarah watched the door as she spoke, obviously worried about Caleb. Ashlyn rolled her eyes.

"Go to him. Just do me a favor. Don't tell Pogue where Kate went. He's had enough disappointment tonight." She mumbled the last part, but Corinne heard it perfectly. She raised an eyebrow, making Ashlyn look down guiltily. Sarah just nodded and dashed outside. Tyler showed up moments later looking tired.

"Ty, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, and I promise I will tell you everything soon. It was killing me keeping this from you and Pogue, but I had my reasons."

"It's okay. I figured you had your reasons. If you hadn't shown up here knowing about our powers, I probably wouldn't have told you either." He smiled, though she could tell he was still a little hurt, and pulled her into a hug. "Now will you try to get Reid out of my car? I have the keys, but I wouldn't put it past him to hotwire it once he cools down some."

"How about Cori gives you my keys and I make sure Reid doesn't destroy your car tonight." He thought about it for a moment before handing her his keys. She hugged him again, said goodbye to Cori, and ran outside to try to catch Reid before he took off with Tyler's Hummer.

"So how long do you think it will take for them to remove their heads from their asses and admit that they like each other?" Corinne asked while watching her friend literally run outside in her skirt and heels.

"I give it a month. They are pretty stubborn." Corinne laughed and challenged Tyler to a game of pool.

Ashlyn made it to the Hummer just as Reid used to turn it on. She opened the passenger side door and jumped in.

"You know, if you could have waited ten more seconds, I would have handed you the keys." She said in a huff as he drove out of the parking lot.

"What do you want, anyway? Are you here to give me another "holier-than-thou" speech about how using will get me addicted and killed?" He was angry, though it wasn't really directed at her.

"Why? I use more than I've seen you use. Besides, I told Caleb it wasn't you." He looked at her then, confusion marring his features.

"How do you know it wasn't me?"

"Pay attention to the road. I don't know it wasn't you, but, unlike my brother, I also know we aren't the only people in the world with powers."

"Red and her brother," he said in realization. She nodded, though it wasn't a question and he wasn't looking at her anymore.

"There are others too, but yes, they have powers."

"Why are you telling me this now? Why didn't you tell us when you first got here?" he asked, puzzled as to why she was telling him at all.

"You didn't need to know when I first got here, and I thought it was safer if you didn't."

"And now we need to know? What the hell do you mean safer?" He was getting angry. Ashlyn watched as he clutched the wheel just a bit harder and noticed the tops of his knuckles were turning white.

She took a deep breath. "I can't tell you right now. I really don't want to tell you at all, but since I don't really have a choice now, I'm determined to only tell this whole damn story once." Her unsteady voice told him all he needed to know.

"Jeremy, huh?"

Her head snapped up toward him. His eyes remained focused on the road ahead of him. "And here everyone's been telling me _Caleb's_ the smart one," she laughed bitterly and looked out the window to her right. "It was my fault. I didn't listen and now they're gone. I killed them, Reid." He reached over and took her hand, rubbing soothing circles over it. He didn't say anything. He knew it wouldn't help.

The rest of the car ride was silent. Nearly ten minutes later, they slowed to a stop in front of a house that looked like it hadn't been touched in a couple centuries. He pulled out his phone and stepped outside for a moment motioning her to stay. She was too exhausted—physically and emotionally—to protest. She settled for watching him from the silence of the Hummer. He spoke quickly and paused, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes in an attempt to stay calm. She knew from his body language that he was talking to her brother and it wasn't going well.

She watched him curiously. It seemed strange that he would call Caleb so soon after their fight. She may avoid Reid like a leper, but they knew each other. Just as he knew Jeremy's death and her story were tied together, she knew his animosity toward her brother went much deeper than a simple authority complex. Reid Garwin was afraid. Watching him silently, all she could see was his anger. Ashlyn prided herself on being a talented lip reader. It was something she and Corinne had mastered at a young age to talk during classes. Despite this, Reid's set jaw and gritted teeth made it difficult. So far, all she could understand were four words.

"She needs to know." Reid had repeated this same sentence at least six times in the last five minutes.

_I don't trust her, Reid. She could be the one using. You saw how she snapped earlier._ Reid growled.

"Yeah, I saw her. She was stepping in to stop _us_ from exposing or killing ourselves. We both snapped long before she did, Caleb." If Caleb had been there, Reid would have hit him.

_I still don't trust her. Who knows what else she's keeping from us._ That was when Reid heard Pogue on the other end. He too was yelling at their stubborn leader. _What have we done to make her trust us, Cay? She came here knowing about our powers. She's family and we're still keeping secrets from her as if she's some kind of outsider! Reid's right. She deserves to know._

Reid couldn't help but smile at Pogue's words. Usually he was on his own when he stood against the great Caleb Danvers. Not even Tyler had the balls to stick by him when it came to their "fearless leader." It was nice to have someone say he was right for once.

"It doesn't matter. We're here and I'm telling her whether you like it or not." With that, Reid hung up and turned off his phone. He had a feeling it would be ringing for a while. He walked to the passenger side of the Hummer and knocked on Ashlyn's window. She seemed to have dozed off in the front seat.

"There's something I need to show you, but first you have to hear me out and listen to the whole story before you go and rip my head off, okay?" Ashlyn nodded confusion swirling in her chocolate eyes. "Good. How much do you know about why you grew up in New York and not here?"

She told him about the letter she'd gotten from her father just before her thirteenth birthday. The letter had explained that she was in danger in Ipswich. That was the only reason it gave. It explained about the power and the terrible things it does to the families. It explained the addiction and the aging, but it didn't tell her why she wasn't in Ipswich with them. It was something that had always bothered her. Ashlyn didn't like not understanding anything. If there was an answer she didn't know, she went and found it. With this, she only found more questions.

Reid listened carefully to discern just how much she knew about the power. As it turned out, she knew a lot for someone who'd never even seen the Book of Damnation. She knew she was the first girl born into the Covenant that survived long enough to gain the power. She knew that as far as the Covenant was concerned, she was an anomaly. She shouldn't even exist, yet there she stood. It was time she got her answers.

"So your dad just said you were in danger here? That makes sense. It'd be hard to explain to a child that she had to be sent away 'cause her grandfather and his buddies wanted to kill her." Ashlyn gasped and leaned back against the Hummer. By the time Reid finished his story, she had slid to the ground and he sat beside her with his head against the front left tire.

"They did it to save me?" she asked in a near whisper. Reid nodded. "And my father? He used to keep me alive. I'm the reason he became addicted? I killed him?" She was crying and Reid lightly touched her shoulder to make her look at him.

"Never think that. He knew what he was doing long before you were born. He knew what he was risking and he was absolutely sure you were worth it. Every time we'd go visit you when we were kids, we'd go see him when we came back. He wanted to know everything. I thought he was going to kill me the year Caleb told him I pushed you out of the tree in the park, well, until he found out you pushed me in the fountain and stole my ice cream as payback. He told me it served me right for hurting 'his little angel.'" They both smiled fondly at the memory. She'd cried so much Reid thought she'd broken something. He hadn't meant to hurt her. He just wanted her to smile again, and told Jeremy as much. The older boy promised to take care of it and to just play along. Thirty minutes later, a seven-year-old Ashlyn stood above him with his strawberry ice cream in hand and he was soaking wet in the fountain. She was smiling though, so he didn't care too much.

"It wasn't until we stopped visiting that he really started to use. It was like he didn't have anything to live for anymore. Between that and Mrs. D's drinking, that stick up Caleb's ass just got shoved up further and further until he became the anal-retentive control freak we all know and hate."

They were silent as Ashlyn let all this news sink in. She wasn't abandoned. Her parents did love her. They really were trying to do what was best.

"What do you say we give an old man a reason to smile again?" Reid said after a good ten minutes of silence, nudging her shoulder. She looked up at him confused, but took the offered hand and stood up to brush herself off anyway.

"What old man?" He couldn't actually mean…

"Your dad, who else?" His smile was a little smug. He seemed to be enjoying her confusion. "Just trust me, Angel," he smirked and offered his hand once again. She took it and walked silently behind the blond boy up to the old colony house. Reid knocked twice on the door before letting himself in. A man with a shotgun was about halfway down the stairs when they walked in. He cocked the gun and Ashlyn jumped back and lowered her head to cover her now black eyes with her bangs.

"What are you doing here, Garwin? And who's she?" The old man's voice was gruff and menacing, but Ashlyn could tell from his tone that he would never actually shoot at the blond boy.

"Gorman put down the gun. You know you won't shoot me, you crazy old man. Besides, this is Ashlyn. You know as well as I do she should have been brought here a long time ago." The old man glared a bit, but it was all directed at Reid, probably for the "crazy old man" comment. His gazed softened when he looked at Ashlyn. He nodded and turned to go back upstairs, the two teens following closely behind.

As they reached the top of the stairs, Ashlyn could see the chair, but more importantly, she could see the hand on the armrest. It was _his_ hand. Her father was alive. She couldn't move. She could barely breathe as Reid's hand slid from hers to the small of her back. He gently led her to the side of the chair, but the only thing she noticed was how his voice shook slightly as he tried to get her father's attention.

"Mr. Danvers?" He was asleep but he shifted slightly. Reid reached out to lightly touch his shoulder. "Uncle Will, can you hear me? It's Reid. I've got someone here I think you should see." His eyes began to flutter open and tears came to Ashlyn's eyes at the effort it seemed to take. It killed her that she was the cause of his aging.

"It's Ashlyn, Uncle Will. She's home." At those words, the feeble old man's eyes brightened considerably. Reid stepped back and Ashlyn lowered to her knees by her father's chair. His wrinkled hand slowly and shakily rose to her cheek as her hand covered his. The tears from before flowed freely down her cheeks and she smiled.

"Daddy?" she whispered and leaned over to hug him, careful of the wires and tubes. She didn't even notice as Reid crept quietly back down the stairs. She had her dad. No matter how long it would last, he was with her now. She wasn't letting go.

Reid stepped back outside to call Tyler. He was a little shocked when a very distressed Corinne answered before the phone rang a full time. Much too soon for the caller ID to have realized it was him.

"Is she alright?"

"What are you some kind of psychic?" he asked, knowing that probably wasn't far from the truth.

"Something like that. And my brother can teleport so answer my damn question before I find you and rip your entrails out through your throat and strangle you with them." The sweet and quiet tone she said it with terrified him.

"Wait, the porcupine can teleport? That's news."

"GARWIN!" Reid actually jumped at her tone.

"She's fine, Red. I'll have her home soon. You three have a hell of a lot of explaining to do."

"Aww Ricky, do we have to? Me and Ethel didn't do anything wrong. I promise!" Reid shook his head and hung up. He noticed Ashlyn standing behind him in the doorway.

"I'm not sure what scares me more: the thought of being Ricky to Red's Lucy or wondering who she means to play Ethel. The thought of her brother on vaudeville is more than a little terrifying."

Ashlyn laughed and grabbed his arm to pull him toward Tyler's Hummer. They drove back to Spencer in near silence with the radio playing lowly in the background. Reid pulled into the parking lot and they walked side by side all the way back to her dorm.

"Night, Angel. I've gotta go call your brother and assure him I got you home safe and sound." Ashlyn giggled and rolled her eyes. He flashed her a quick smile—a genuine smile rather than a smirk—and began to walk down the hall.

"Reid?" she called when he was about five feet down the hall. He turned to look at her and she walked up to him slowly.

"Thanks for tonight. It meant a lot to me." She smiled shyly and rose all the way up on her toes to give him a quick peck on the cheek before dashing back into her room leaving the dazed boy in the hall with a hand on his cheek, staring in confusion at the spot where she once stood.

**AN: **It's short, but at least it's a chapter. Again, I'm terribly sorry for the wait, but I'm back. Be it good news or bad, I'm here. Review!


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